'So valuable' - Harry Redknapp has given Richard Hughes verdict ahead of Liverpool appointment

Richard Hughes is poised to be announced as Liverpool's new sporting director.

It is expected that the former Scotland midfielder will officially take up duties at Anfield later this afternoon. Hughes has already announced he will be leaving his role as Bournemouth's technical director at the end of the season, having been in his role since 2016.

The 44-year-old will succeed Jorg Schmadtke, who served in the role on a temporary basis from last summer until January. He'll work closely with Michael Edwards, who has been prised back to Liverpool after being appointed Fenway Sports Group's CEO of football.

Player recruitment will be a chief remit of Hughes, along with helping appoint the new manager to fill the monumental void that will be left by Jurgen Klopp in the summer.

There may be some supporters who have reservations over Hughes given the significant step up he faces from Bournemouth to Liverpool. However, his ex-Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has already given an insight into the qualities Hughes will bring to Anfield.

It appeared that Hughes would join Eddie Howe at Celtic in 2021 before the move broke down. And speaking to the Daily Record, Redknapp told of the encyclopedic knowledge that Hughes has.

The former Tottenham manager said: “Richard’s knowledge of players is excellent, not just in Britain but across the world. He speaks fluent Italian, he’s a great lad and he’s going to be very important to Eddie as he looks to bring success to Celtic and in the work which needs to be done. I have no doubt they will rise to the challenge, Richard is like Eddie in that it’s just football, football, football with them. There’s nothing much other than family and football and then walking the dog.

“Eddie relies on him with the recruitment and it’s that bond and trust they have in one another which is so important. Richard’s an interesting character, he has a cosmopolitan side to him and if you talk to him about any player from any part of the world, he seems to know almost everyone.

“He will give you chapter and verse on players I don’t know well. It’s that depth of knowledge and study which he puts into recruitment which makes him so valuable."